Goodbye Yesterday, Hello Tomorrow
by LuvStarWars
Summary: I can't believe the end has come already, it seems like it just began. SET DURING THE LAST CHAPTERS OF THE MTNN MANGA, SO MAJOR SPOILERS. In these last intimate moments, how do you say goodbye when you fear the separation could be permanent? NeuroXYako


**Author's Notes: Well guys, the last four chapters of the Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro manga were posted on One Manga today. I've never found anything like this series, and I am so happy I stumbled across it, because it has become one of, if not my absolute favorite, manga/anime yet. I have no intentions of stopping writing and drawing for this series. If anything, my fan fictions/fan arts will increase as I await any news on a possible sequel series to the manga (which I really DO believe is possible, considering the way Matsui Yusei ended this manga, and the untranslated omakes, which I am waiting on the edge of my seat, biting my fingernails in anticipation to read). Also, I'll probably watch the anime for the third time and read the manga all over again. If any of you are interested in seeing my fan arts, please check out my deviantART account, FlameoZutara (just Google it, it'll come up). And also, if you want to share, I would be most interested to see how you guys got into MTNN. It'll really help my aching heart to chat about this series that I love so much! :'D  
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**Anyway, this oneshot contains OBVIOUS SPOILERS from the last chapters of MTNN. So if you haven't read them yet, GO DO SO NOW, and then please come back and read this if you feel like it. XD I just got the urge after reading these last chapters to do a drabble, so I did it, and here it is. Nothing much, nothing special, but I like it anyway, and I hope you do too. Please enjoy! ^_^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own MTNN. If I did, what I wrote here would have happened in the manga, and it most certainly would not be over!!**  
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* * *

Neuro grimaced as the first rays of dawn broke through the office window. His time was up.

Glancing over to his right, his eyes rested on the young human out cold on the floor beside the couch. He'd pretty much suffocated her with those chains earlier, without even having to lift a finger, and she'd been unconscious ever since. It was so easy to bring her down, even in this near-death state. How could she be so certain she'd be all right without him?

_No sense worrying about it, there's nothing you can do now_, he reasoned. Lingering in the human world much longer would mean certain death for him. And yet, if he returned to the demon world, he had no guarantee that he would make it back to the same dimension or time. He had no way of knowing if he would ever see Yako again.

Of course they'd talked about his returning like it was a certainty of the near future, but Neuro knew the enormous possibility of that not being the case. Sure he was immortal, he had an eternity to try. But Yako was a mortal human. The time slot that he had to return to her world in which she would still be alive was pitifully small compared to eternity. If he missed it completely… Well, that would be a most cruel thing indeed.

Painfully, Neuro managed to sit up on the couch. Every movement was a struggle. He felt more tired by the second. No, not much time left, certainly no time for goodbyes. Yako would just have to wake up after he was already gone. Maybe that was for the best anyway. A teary farewell would be a nuisance, and probably just shake his resolve even more. At least _he_ could say goodbye to her.

First he undid the chains around her neck and ankles. They were already loose, he hadn't wanted to kill her after all, just knock her out, but it was best to remove them completely. Might as well show her this small kindness, just in case he never saw her again. Then, very gently, he laid a hand on her head.

"Shine brightly for me, Yako," he said quietly, "so I can find you."

In that moment, something tugged at his heart, something dangerously close to a human feeling. But who was he kidding?! He'd been feeling human ever since Higuchi's helicopter had pulled him out of the ocean. All his dignity had crumbled away even before then, and what did he care? He'd spoken for hours with Yako like they were equals, and it had felt so natural, so comfortable, so _good._ He'd held her against his chest, and she'd felt warm and welcome to his cold skin. He'd smiled at her, and she had smiled back, and he'd realized just how, for lack of a better word, _fond_ he'd become of his "top slug" he now had to call her. In all honesty, she'd met and passed all his expectations with flying colors. She would become a great woman someday, maybe much sooner than even she realized, or maybe she'd already become one. Neuro was proud to say the least. Very proud...

And now he was just a little bit sad, because just when Yako, his Yako, had become everything he'd trained her to be, he was forced to give up his slave - no, his _partner_. The demon's grip tightened ever so slightly on the girl's head. His resolve was faltering again. No, he had to leave now. He had to-

The human stirred, and Neuro used the last of his strength to vanish before her eyes opened. He wouldn't hear her say goodbye. He would just have to return to her, no matter what it took. No what if's, no doubts. He would. That was all there was to it.

* * *

Yako blinked, disoriented and light-headed. What was that whisper that had woken her up? How had she ended up on the floor? One minute she was talking to Neuro and the next-

Neuro!

Yako's head snapped up, but she already knew what she would see. Her chains were undone, and the couch, the office, was empty.

For a long moment, she felt like she could cry. Certainly her eyes grew moist, but no tears fell. No, he wouldn't have wanted her to cry. He would be disappointed if she did. He would want her to wait patiently for him, believing with all her heart that he would return, working hard to shine brightly and live up to his expectations. Yako knew he would return to see that. So she wouldn't cry. She wouldn't lose hope. In fact, she dared to smile a little, just a little, as the whispered words came back to her.

"_Shine brightly for me, Yako, so I can find you."_

"I will… Neuro."

* * *

It had only been three years. Only a few months in Hell (his recovery had been swift amidst the thick miasma of the Demon World), but Neuro had feared hundreds, even thousands of years would pass in the human world during that time. But it had only been three years, and apparently three good years at that. Yako had shone brightly just like she'd promised; the trail of the famous detective, Katsuragi Yako had been easy to trace to this plane, to this flight home. And now he was looking in through the window, watching his grown up slave sleeping soundly, like no time had passed at all between when he'd left her unconscious on the office floor and now.

She was entirelly the same, and completely different all at once. Her hair was longer and wavier, her face and features more mature, more (dare he even think it) beautiful. Yet he could still see the old Yako in her as well. She'd yet to lose her old reputation of being the "piggish detective," she still wore the same hair clips, and Neuro was sure that when she opened her eyes, they would be the same strong-willed, understanding brown eyes he knew.

Speaking of opening eyes, the human was doing so right then. Their gazes locked immediately. Neuro saw the recognition and shock dawn on her face, but he didn't allow her to show anything else before he fazed right through the side of the plane, flew over her head, and landed in the seat beside her. He'd barely gotten settled before a pair of arms was wrapped around his neck and Yako's head was pressed against his chest. Apparently the intimacy they had obtained during their last hours together had not been forgotten or abandoned.

"I knew you would come back!!" Yako cried happily, and Neuro was glad to hear that the tone of her voice was not at all wimpy like her words might have made it seem, but strong and full of trust. He knew in that moment that if she'd been awake in those final moments before his departure, he wouldn't have seen a single tear cross her cheek. He didn't regret leaving her the way he did, however. Even greater was the accomplishment of believing he would return without any promises or reassurances.

"You really have evolved, top slug," the demon replied, putting an arm around her shoulders and resting it there. "Now we are ready to begin our hunt for the Ultimate Mystery once again! It is already on the tip of my tongue!"


End file.
